The murderer of Matthew Shepard wanted to leave prison early. He was denied.
Matthew Shepard in a photo of his family carried in the wallet of his father. Photo: Courtesy of the Matthew Shepard Foundation
Henderson and his accomplice, Aaron McKinney, were convicted for the October 1998 kidnapping and murder of Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. Henderson and his accomplice, Aaron McKinney, were convicted for the October 1998 kidnapping and murder of Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming.
“The Board held a hearing on Russell’s petition and declined to forward the petition to the Governor,” Margaret White, the parole board’s executive director, told Advocate.com.
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Inmates in Wyoming who have served 10 years of their lifetime sentences may submit a commutation petition (a request to have their sentence shortened) every five years. It’s unclear if Henderson has previously filed petitions.
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Henderson pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder and kidnapping of Shepard to avoid a death sentence. Henderson was sentenced to death in April 1999. McKinney was convicted later in the year of kidnapping and aggravated murder. To avoid the death penalty, McKinney accepted a sentence of life in prison without chance of parole or appeal.
Henderson and McKinney’s October 7, 1998 murder of Shepard shocked the nation. The killers repeatedly beat the 21 year old with the handgun’s butt, fractured his skull. The murderers then tied Shepard to a fence and left him to suffer hypothermia overnight in 28-degree weather. Shepard was covered in blood, except where his tears ran down his cheeks. Shepard was left in a coma after the attack. The murderers asked their girlfriends to help them hide evidence and provide alibis during the police investigation into the murder. The murderers asked their girlfriends to help provide alibis and hide evidence during the police investigation into the murder.
In 1998, Shepard’s parents founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation, an LGBTQ+ nonprofit that runs educational, outreach and advocacy programs against queerphobia.
In 2009, Matthew Shepard’s mother Judy Shepard published the book, The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in May 2024 for her continued advocacy of LGBTQ+ rights. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was a law which included disability, gender, sexuality, and gender identity in federal hate crimes laws. The law provided additional federal funding to investigate and track hate crimes. The play was made into a film in 2002 with the same title. Numerous songs have been dedicated to Shepard, including the lesbian singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge’s 1999 song “Scarecrow.”
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